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The sculpture has long been an Instagram darling, with tourists lining up to pose next to it against the backdrop of the Seto Inland Sea.

Japanese coast guard ships and aircraft have been searching since Friday for three missing crew members of the cargo ship after the collision with a Marshall Islands-registered tanker in the Seto Inland Sea.

With the sun just beginning to set over the Inland Sea and with a stomach full of udon, I found myself drawn to the museum’s periphery.

All around is a head-clearing view over the great, still blue plate of the Inland Sea, islands upon islands silhouetted in the distance.

In Sacramento, California’s governor at the time had to be rowed to his inauguration in a boat, leading to a new nickname for the region: “Inland Sea.”